This is a noisy marina. Not above the water, where it is quiet, uncrowded and friendly. But below with noises that I could not identify. They sounded something like a boat fender rubbing against a dock, or a dock rubbing against a piling. But not quite. And one morning when I stepped off GANNET on to the dock, they definitely seemed to be coming from the water and moving around. They were.
The source I am told are Drum Fish, who grow to substantial size, 80 pounds, 36 kilos, and more, and eat among other things the barnacles growing on the docks. While doing so they emit every few seconds a sound. For long periods of time. When more than one is present, there is a kind of refrain: a sound, a reply that is not identical, a sound, a reply. Such a dialogue went on last night for more than an hour in close proximity to GANNET from 2:00 to 3:00 a.m. I am going to see if I still have earplugs on board.
The good news is that I am told that Drum Fish are quite tasty.
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I got two coats of paint on the rub rails yesterday and touched up the topsides today. The topsides need a full repainting. It has been six years since I turned GANNET platinum. It would have happened this year if I could do my own work in the small boat yard by the marina. I have the time and even the inclination. But they won’t let owners do their own work, so I can’t. Maybe next year.
In lieu of a full topside job, I will start tomorrow to see what can be done with wax and polish.
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I walked up to the condo a couple of times today.
The first to get my bicycle to take the lovely ride to the supermarket.
A young man, a boy really, was trundling a wheelbarrow filled with concrete and some other items I could not identify from the elevator to an open trailer. I felt sorry for him. I expect he is glad to have work, but he seemed to me so young he should still be playing rather than laboring.
I went back up around 5 p.m. when I assumed the workmen had gone and found considerable intended destruction. The master bathroom is gutted. Part of a wall gone. The wet bar gone, leaving a second doorway from the living room to the kitchen.
Only a little more demolition remains before, hopefully, rebuilding will commence and a more elegant phoenix rises from the ashes.
Only a little more demolition remains before, hopefully, rebuilding will commence and a more elegant phoenix rises from the ashes.
